# Frank Method lighter?



## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

If anyone knows, in the Frank Method videos, what type of lighter does he use? I am thinking of buying a new one because I'm scorching the hell out of my Dr. Grabow pipe  but I don't know which one to get. A corona old boy is out of my price range, but any ideas would help!


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## bonggoy (Mar 9, 2006)

Here you go:


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## SUOrangeGuy (Feb 22, 2006)

He uses a torch. He has lit alot of pipes and can do that without hitting the edges.


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## Joan (Dec 1, 2007)

SUOrangeGuy said:


> He uses a torch. He has lit alot of pipes and can do that without hitting the edges.


I use a torch too, but I'm thinking of moving from a three flame to a single flame torch after adding a [tiny] new scorch wound to my newest pipe last night. It'll buff out, but dag!


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## wharfrathoss (Dec 27, 2006)

zippo pipe lighter believer here-w/the new fuel, i don't notice any taste-the one thing i did notice is how much more flavor you get during the light, i'm assuming the lower temp of the zippo vs. bic is responsible for this-BTW, i still use a bic for the charring light, the zippo doesn't do too well for that

there's also a co. that makes a butane soft flame pipe insert for the zippo, maybe venture?


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

Any torch lights you guys suggest? I'm tired of using a two dollar bic, plus charring is not nice


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

bonggoy said:


> Here you go:


I don't think he's says what brand he uses, which is what I want to know.


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

wharfrathoss said:


> zippo pipe lighter believer here-w/the new fuel, i don't notice any taste-the one thing i did notice is how much more flavor you get during the light, i'm assuming the lower temp of the zippo vs. bic is responsible for this-BTW, i still use a bic for the charring light, the zippo doesn't do too well for that
> 
> there's also a co. that makes a butane soft flame pipe insert for the zippo, maybe venture?


How is your zippo piper light? For the price I was thinking of getting one. I love my regular zippo also


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## SUOrangeGuy (Feb 22, 2006)

wharfrathoss said:


> there's also a co. that makes a butane soft flame pipe insert for the zippo, maybe venture?


Its vector that makes an insert for the zippo that is a butane soft flame.


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## Mr Mojo Risin (May 26, 2007)

Will these help...Brian

http://www.gatlinburlier.com/index....e+Lighter&query=all&rankedby=custom&page=none


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## tfar (Dec 27, 2007)

One cannot really see the lighter in his hand. He says though that it is important to fire it up only for one second. I tried this with my Colibiri lighter (which by the way gives me impeccable service for more than three years now), and it will actually only throw out a flame for one seconf when held upside down.

Still, I use my butane pipe lighter and guess what. On the very first bowl I ever lit up on my very first pipe I scorched the pipe rim of a brand new beautiful Cassano Canadian, even with a butane pipe lighter. wathc out if you use a torch and even with a butane lighter.

Till


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## n3uka (Nov 13, 2006)

I picked up a VECTOR DUPLA TORCH at Taboo cigars during one of his many sales he posts on CS. It has a soft flame for the pipe and a torch and punch for cigars. Only had it a few weeks but it has been working out fine.


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## paperairplane (Nov 8, 2007)

My regular is the standard Bic - for use in the car it can't be beat. I have a Zippo pipe ltr and I like it, works well. The old honest wood match is hard to beat for lighting whole top of tobacco at once and soft flame....

As for Mr Frank, I think any single flame torch would be fine.


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

Just for some reason I'm having trouble getting the entire bowl lit...like the outer rim of the tobacco stays unlit.. which is quite annoying. And I usually never finish a bowl because at a certain point it will go out and I can't relight it. So 25% of the bowl is still unburnt tobacco, 50% is semi burnt *its extremely black* tobacco and 25% is ash.


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## tfar (Dec 27, 2007)

Thillium said:


> Just for some reason I'm having trouble getting the entire bowl lit...like the outer rim of the tobacco stays unlit.. which is quite annoying. And I usually never finish a bowl because at a certain point it will go out and I can't relight it. So 25% of the bowl is still unburnt tobacco, 50% is semi burnt *its extremely black* tobacco and 25% is ash.


It helps to gently knock out the loose tobacco on top. Depending on how you packed and tampered you will then to either loosen the rest up a little bit with a pick or tamper it some more. Then relight. You don't really need to stick the lighter in all the way. Just suck the flame into the bowl.

When you are down to a quarter bowl I would really not use a torch anymore. Too dangerous. In a way the Dupla lighter would be great for this scenario because you could use the torch in the beginning and the soft flame later.

I have read and tried to put some pressure on the center of the tobacco while relighting it (this is a bit acrobatic if you try it with the cigar in your mouth). This will put more heat on the side and prevent the unlit ring.

Another thing that helps but doesn't work with the Frank method is what Kirsten pipes describe on their site. Pack the tobacco with your finger compressing the outer layer (towards the bowl wall) more.

The last thing you can do and should is to push the tobacco that heaps up in the ring down again to flatten the surface before you relight. I have once seen a very nice slanted tamper made of wood especially for this purpose on one side while the other side was flat. It was a small American custom pipe maker but I don't remember the name. It is true that with an ordinary tamper this is more difficult.

Till


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

Thank you Tfar for the advice. I am striving to be able to smoke an ENTIRE bowl without have to give up because of the pipe burning just the inner tobacco.


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## tfar (Dec 27, 2007)

You're welcome. By the way, the name is Till. As in Till Eulenspiegel. tfar is just the screen name.

If you try all this you should get it right. I am just a newbie, too. I would like to have some seasoned pipe smoker watch over my packing technique and give me a hand, so to say. My "problem" is that I have to relight way to often for my taste.

Till


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## DubintheDam (Jun 5, 2007)

Just to throw in my tu'pence worth, the advantage of a torch lighter is when you are lighting a pipe outside, the flame isn't blown onto the side of the bowl, so if you are an 'outside' smoker it can actually reduce rim scorching, that is...if it is done correctly as Frank suggests. I also find the quick blasts of 1 second means that you get a great starting light and can reduce the need for relights....also a good torch lighter can reach down into a deep bowl when you wish to start up a rested second-half bowl.

That said...the main disadvantage of the Frank filling method is that you tend to fill the bowl right to the top, and this can (it seems to me) increase rim scorching, in fact if you look at Frank's pipe in his video you will see it is quite scorched around the rim.

I don't use my torch lighter since I bought my Corona Roller. But still keep my torch on standby.


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## Joan (Dec 1, 2007)

tfar said:


> You're welcome. By the way, the name is Till. As in Till Eulenspiegel. tfar is just the screen name.
> 
> Till


Aaaaaah! My favorite horn solo! Thanks for the ear worm, Till! :tu

Oh! And I just ordered a batch of the single flame torches from dealextreme dot com, the cheeeep lighter vendor about which some of the gorillas are raving.


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

Alright well I tried filling the bowl ALMOST to the rim but not quite and left a little bit of space. I then lighted it and continued smoking it and finished most of it. But still there is a layer like four quarters stacked on one another of blackened tobacco around the rim of my pipe. Also I found after this time around there was some moisture on the very heel of the pipe. With only about 10% of the tobacco not burned and 40-50% of blackened tobacco and the rest was ash.


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## tfar (Dec 27, 2007)

Did you scrape the tobacco down from the sides for a little re-tamp to even things out? Did you relight?

It might have something to do with how the air is flowing in your pipe. As far as I understand, you only have just this pipe, right? Perhaps buy a cob pipe for 3-4 dollars to try out a different instrument and see if it is really your technique that makes the difference.

Till


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

tfar said:


> Did you scrape the tobacco down from the sides for a little re-tamp to even things out? Did you relight?
> 
> It might have something to do with how the air is flowing in your pipe. As far as I understand, you only have just this pipe, right? Perhaps buy a cob pipe for 3-4 dollars to try out a different instrument and see if it is really your technique that makes the difference.
> 
> Till


Actually now that I think of it maybe 2 quarters 4 seemed a bit big lol. Alas I did smoke another bowl which I totally forgot about. Yes I did scrape all the tobacco when I felt that the cherry got halfway through the bowl. I tampered it down and then relit. I think Sunday evening when I go to smoke a bowl I'm going to take some pictures to help out with my delima. It is so much easier to understand what I mean if you have a visual


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## tfar (Dec 27, 2007)

Good idea. Take a picture and perhaps do try to buy a cob pipe just to make sure.

Till


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## wharfrathoss (Dec 27, 2006)

2 things that helped me burn a bowl the whole way down:

1) dry the tobac more than usual - pick up a pinch & drop it, it should not stick together
2) pack loosely - gravity fill the bowl, push down w/your finger (no tamper), only enough pressure to keep the tobac in the pipe

hope this helps-keep trying, it gets easier


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

Trust me this isn't dampering the experience of a pipe but I am trying to get it to the point of where I don't have to use my lighter 15+ times for a single bowl of tobacco lol.:tu


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

Like I stated previously here we go. a 20 minute smoke with step by step commentary.

The Champ

What the victim will be tonight

Gravity fed

Packed using my finger with very slight resistence. Sorry out of focus 

More feeding with gravity and after packed so it wasn't even with the lip of the pipe, 

Five one second lights with my lighter...not much 

Number 10 is my lucky number, finally really gets going.

OHES NOES DISASTERS STRIKES!!!! It goes out 

Tampered with a tool and relit! REJOICING BEGINS!

Stupid pipe. Goes out again. This time I'm not standing for it. I believe I retampered it and then

DISSECTION! What went wrong!?

time of life.
9:33 to 9:53.


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## Bridges (Jan 6, 2008)

I used my Vector triple flame torch today with my pipe. It worked like a dream. Didn't have to worry about matches and all the tobac was evenly lit. You have to be careful not to scorch the rim. Felt like it smoked easier because of it.p


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## tfar (Dec 27, 2007)

I don't get it. Why didn't you just relight it? It seems there is only a little ash. The lighter should burn through that without a problem. Or did it not want to be lit again?

Till


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

Heres the problem the pipe dies out really quickly. if I try to let it sit for more then 30 seconds it dies...I don't understand it. I have to puff once every ten seconds.

But see the outta rim of the tobacco not being burned? Thats my other problem, its like a vein in pipe almost


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## Joan (Dec 1, 2007)

Hi Thillium. I surely know how frustrating the relight thing can be. Props for keeping at it! 

This would be a SWAG without watching you pack your pipe, but it sort of looks to me like 1) the Captain Black may be packed too hard and tight, which means not enough air to let the glow spread around and goes out every half minute, and a) your draw is like 25cfps trying to compensate for it, resulting in that tunnel down the middle. 

OR, 

D) the pack is too light and loose, resulting in too much air around the pack and not enough fuel to burn easily, causing many relights, and 16) it burns way mega too fast and right down the middle because of the overcompensating. Or something.

My two centavos. p


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

Bridges said:


> I used my Vector triple flame torch today with my pipe. It worked like a dream. Didn't have to worry about matches and all the tobac was evenly lit. You have to be careful not to scorch the rim. Felt like it smoked easier because of it.p


Could you link me the one you use?


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

Joan said:


> Hi Thillium. I surely know how frustrating the relight thing can be. Props for keeping at it!
> 
> This would be a SWAG without watching you pack your pipe, but it sort of looks to me like 1) the Captain Black may be packed too hard and tight, which means not enough air to let the glow spread around and goes out every half minute, and a) your draw is like 25cfps trying to compensate for it, resulting in that tunnel down the middle.
> 
> ...


Thank you Joan! Well maybe some insight can help this. You said that it might be packed to tight, but generally most of my pipes when draw from the stem before it is lit there is NO resistence what so ever so it feels like theres no tobacco in it, but there is. I've been told you are suppose to pack a pipe until you feel a slight resistence in drawing. and I draw A LOT. Think cigarette smoker going through a nic fit lol.

btw, what does SWAG mean???

I will try packing it very hard this time around, maybe my definition of hard is actually everyone else's definition of loose


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## cigar_040 (Mar 10, 2006)

Thillium said:


> btw, what does SWAG mean???


Scientific 
Wild
A**
Guess

and hang in there, I know and feel your pain. I'm still learning !!


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## Thillium (Jan 14, 2008)

cigar_040 said:


> Scientific
> Wild
> A**
> Guess
> ...


haha! Thats excellent thank you ! Sorta like a guestimate! But hey I can take any and all suggestions, I am really stumped on how to fix it.


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